This invention relates to bus bars and more particlarly to bus bars employed for connecting arc furnace electrodes to power supply transformers.
In a typical arc furnace installation, a high voltage power supply is connected to a transformer to provide a high current output at a relatively low voltage. The transformers are usually located in a vault so as to isolate the transformer from the arc furnace. The bus bars extend from the transformer terminals through the vault wall with their opposite ends connected by conductors to electrode clamps. Conventional bus bars generally take the form of hollow, tubular members which are round or rectangular in transverse cross-section. Round tubes are usually spaced at least 2.25 times the tube diameter in order to avoid a detrimental redistribution of current. As a result, a relatively large area is necessary to accommodate the number and spacing of round bus bars necessary to carry the currents required in electric arc furnances. Rectangular bus bars have not been wholly satisfactory because the current tends to flow along only one surface of the bar, thereby minimizing the effective current carrying capacity.